Agri-Pulse Daybreak for July 28, 2016
WASHINGTON, July 28, 2016 - Hillary Clinton is set to give
the speech of her life tonight after getting a full-throated endorsement from
the man she wants to replace. President Obama last night hailed Clinton as a
fighter, stateswoman, public servant and this patriot.
Obama delivered a slashing critique of Donald Trump, calling
him a “self-declared savior” and saying that last week’s GOP convention was
neither Republican nor conservative.
Obama also made a veiled pitch to voters in the heartland,
suggesting Trump was out of step with the values of Kansas, the native state of
Obama’s mother. Obama said he learned from his grandparents that Kansans
“didn’t like show-offs” and “didn’t admire braggarts or bullies.”
Vilsack gets VIP seating with Bill Clinton Agriculture
Secretary Tom Vilsack got a prime seat last night for Obama’s address, seated
next to the nominee’s spouse, former President Bill Clinton. Read into that
what you will, but there continues to be speculation that Vilsack could wind up
as chief of staff in a Clinton White House.
For much of this week, Vilsack has been hopping around
Philadelphia, making the case to various audiences that Donald Trump is
unacceptable as a president and that rural areas will be critical in the
presidential race.
Vilsack: Rural areas critical to Clinton. Nowhere did he make the case
more emphatically than to a event with agribusiness representatives at the
Urban League of Philadelphia, an historic downtown club.
The event was supposed to be off the record. But
Vilsack gave Agri-Pulse permission to quote his remarks. “It’s important to
reduce the (Republican) margins in rural areas,” Vilsack told the gathering
that included former Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman. “We can’t afford to
lose 90-10, 80-20 or 70-30 and expect to win these battleground states. We have
got to engage people in conversations about rural America.”
Vilsack said he’s never been worried about the fate of the
country with previous Republican candidates. But he said this time is
different. “Mr. Trump is not prepared to be president of the United States,”
Vilsack said. “He will put us at risk. He will put our children at risk. He
will put our grandchildren at risk. Never, never in my lifetime have we had
this stark a choice.”
Vilsack, a native of Pennsylvania, has appeared to at least
three agriculture-focused events this week and also took personal time to
deliver his message to a gathering of Teamsters yesterday. Today, he’ll speak
to the delegates from Iowa and Wisconsin.
Iowa farmers helping Clinton. As we’ve reported, the
Trump campaign also sees rural areas as key to winning states such as Iowa,
Pennsylvania and Ohio. To that end, Trump campaign officials have said they are
organizing an advisory council on agricultural and rural issues. The council
will have a two-fold purpose of outreach and fundraising.
The Clinton campaign appears to have a more informal
advisory council. The names have not been released, but Iowa farmer Bruce
Rowher told Agri-Pulse that he is part of that advisory team along with Pam
Johnson, another Iowa producer who is a former president of the National Corn
Growers Association.
Rohwer and Johnson are both in Philadelphia this week, along
with the current NCGA president, Chip Bowling, a Maryland producer.
Grower outreach got Hoyer GMO vote. Bowling has been
attending a series of events with members of Congress, including his own House
member, Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer. Hoyer voted this month for legislation
that will preempt state GMO labeling laws, and Bowling believes his outreach to
Hoyer played a role. ”Over the years they’ve come to understand that I’m not
sustainable without those (biotech) traits,” Bowling said.
Obama expected to sign GMO bill Friday. President Obama
apparently is waiting until after the convention is over today to sign the
biotech bill. The measure was sent to the White House July 19, and officials
with the National Milk Producers Federation say they expect Obama to sign the
bill Friday. The White House has been mum about the timing, but signing the
bill before - or during - the convention could have further inflamed supporters
of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Two years not likely enough to write GMO rule. Officially,
USDA will have just two years to write the rule necessary to implementing the
national disclosure standard the legislation requires. But Clay Detlefsen, a
senior vice president for the milk producers federation, says the rule will
likely be delayed because of the complexity of the bill and the prospects for
lawsuits.
SD farmer reaching out to Sanders supporters. Ann
Tornberg, a dairy producer from southeastern South Dakota who chairs her state
Democratic Party, will be representing her state at a White House briefing on
economic issues today. Tornberg says she hopes to get a chance to talk about
the importance of trade. Tornberg says she’s trying to help supporters of
Bernie Sanders understand why exports are critical to agriculture.
Farm Bureau leader recalls Trump call. American Farm
Bureau President Zippy Duvall told FFA leaders from around the country last night
that he’s unhappy with the tone of the presidential race. But he said he’s seen
the better side of some of the candidates.
Duvall recalled that shortly after his election in January,
Donald Trump called to congratulate him and talk about some of the issues
facing agriculture. Trump was fascinated with the name “Zippy,” and said he’d
never forget it.
“I might see him again,” Duvall quipped. “Maybe I’ll have a
chance to test him on that.”
Jim Webster, Sara Wyant, Bill Tomson and Spencer Chase
contributed to this report.
#30
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